Jean-Rodolphe Perronet 27 October 1708,
Suresnes -
27 February 1794,
Paris) was a
French architect and
structural engineer, known for his many stone
arch bridges. His best known work is the
Pont de la Concorde (1787).
Life and career
The son of a
Swiss Guardsman, at 17 he entered the architectural practice of
Jean Beausire, "first architect" to the city of Paris, as an apprentice. He was put in charge of the design and construction of Paris's grand sewer, embankment works and the maintenance of the
banlieue's roads. In 1735, he was named sous-ingénieur (under-engineer) to
Alençon and in 1736 entered the Corps des ponts et chaussées. In 1737, he became sous-ingénieur, then engineer to the
généralité of
Alençon.
In 1747, Perronet was named director of the Bureau des dessinateurs du Roi (Royal office of designers), which had also just put
Daniel-Charles Trudaine in charge of producing maps and plans for the kingdom. This first École des ponts et chaussées was based in the
hôtel Libéral Bruant in Paris. Perronet was given the task of training bridge and road engineers and of overseeing their work in the généralités in which they worked. The Bureau became the Bureau des élèves des ponts et chaussées, then in 1775 was renamed the
École des ponts et chaussées. Its organiser, inspiration and teacher, Perronet was a true spiritual father to his students and used a new teaching method which seems very contemporary to modern eyes. During this time he became friends with the Swiss bridge-builder
Charles Labelye.
He was named premier ingénieur du roi in 1763 and became a member of the associate of the
Académie des sciences in 1765. Besides his bridges, between 1747 and 1791, 2500 km of roads were created or repaired under his direction. He also contributed the article
Pompe à feu (fire-engine) to the
Encyclopédie ou Dictionnaire raisonné des sciences, des arts et des métiers.
In 1772, Perronet was elected a foreign member of the
Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The street next to the site of the École des ponts et chaussées (delimiting Paris's
VIe and
VIIe) is now named after him and a statue of him has been erected on the north east corner of the
Île de Puteaux, at the foot of the
pont de Neuilly (whose first stone version, built in 1772 and surviving until 1942, was his work).
Works
- 1757-1765 : Bridge at Mantes.
- 1758-1764 : Bridge at Trilport.
- 1766-1769 : Pont Saint-Edne at Nogent.
- 1770-1771 : Pont Les Fontaines.
- 1774-1785 : Bridge at Sainte-Maxence sur l’Oise.
- 1775 : Bridge at Biais-Bicheret.
- 1786-1787 : Bridge at Rosoy.
- 1786-1791 : Pont Louis XVI, later renamed Pont de la Concorde, Paris.
Sources
- Guy Coriono, 250 ans de l’École des Ponts en cent portraits, Paris, Presses de l’École nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, 1997, p. 37 and following.
- M. Guillot, "Un destin helvétique, Jean-Rodophe Perronet et sa famille suresnoise (1708-1794)" in Les gardes suisses et leurs familles au XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles en région parisienne, p. 108-116.
- Yvon Michel, "Jean-Rodolphe Perronet (1708-1794)" in Monuments Historiques, Paris, April-June 1987, nos 150-151, p. 81-86.
- Claude Vacant, Jean-Rodolphe Perronet (1708-1794). Premier inégénieur du Roi et directeur de l’École des ponts et chaussées, Paris, Presses de l’École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées, 2006. 24 cm, 344 p., ill.
